1. In a letter from the Commons Clerk of the
Joint Committee dated 25 March 2003 the following question was
asked -

Explain the purpose of regulation 20. Is it intended
that a person should be entitled to make an election under that
regulation on or after 7 April 2003? If so, describe the circumstances
in which such a right might arise.

Answer

2. The Joint Committee will be aware that these
regulations are based closely on the previous regulations applying
in relation to child benefit and guardian's allowance prior to
the transfer of functions relating to those benefits to the Commissioners
of Inland Revenue.

3. Regulation 20 derives from paragraph 1 of
Schedule 8 to the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations
1987 (S.I. 1987/1968) and its Northern Ireland equivalent.
Its purpose is to preserve the ability of a person to whom child
benefit is payable for an uninterrupted period beginning before
and ending after 15 March 1982 to make an election to have the
benefit paid weekly. Prior to that date, this was a universal
right.

4. It is intended that a person to whom regulation
20 applies should continue to be entitled to make an election
under that regulation on or after 7 April 2003.

5. Although a child in respect of whom child
benefit was claimed before 15 March 1982 will no longer be a child,
persons entitled to child benefit before that date could have
maintained a continuous entitlement to child benefit after that
date by having other children in respect of whom child benefit
is claimed. Accordingly, although elections under regulation 20
will become rarer as time progresses, the ability of persons to
whom the regulation applies to make an election for weekly payment
does need to be preserved in order to ensure that they can continue
to receive child benefit at weekly intervals if they wish.